By Katie Seaton, Swimming World College Intern
HONOLULU – After redshirting last year and undergoing ankle surgery on both the right and left ankle junior Erin McNulty is back on both feet and already swimming fast.
The Rainbow Wahine Art major swam a notable comeback meet at the A3 Performance Invite, Nov 20-22. After two ankle surgeries in the past 15 months and only three months back in the water, McNulty had a standout swim in the the 100 fly and qualified for the A final in sixth place. After the final swim off she finished in fourth place with a 54.35, .14 seconds faster then the NCAA B cut.
This performance took many by surprise since McNulty has been on crutches and in and out of boots over the last 15 months. Her first full practice back was not until September of this year, and there are still things such as kick sets that she is unable to do with out excruciating pain.
Her first surgery on August 6, 2013 was an attempt to cure the Osteochondral defect in her right ankle. This meant that there was a hole in her anklebone full of cartilage that was swelling. The doctors’ attempt to fix this problem involved micro-fracturing her ankle to try and clean out the cartilage.
Her second surgery took place January 2, 2014, a week after she was out of her boot from her first surgery. The second procedure was to fix her Os Trigonum, which defines the extra bone spur she was born with that needed to be taken out and sanded down. The photos below show Erin holding two thumbs up, remaining optimistic and enthusiastic after her second surgery. The other photo is her left ankle after the surgery to aid her Os Trigonum.
When asked how she kept her sanity without swimming for more than a year, Erin said the time that she spent out of the pool helped her develop as an artist. Rather than focusing on the fact that she could hardly walk, the Rainbow Wahine put forth more time and effort into her art, such as the art pictured below, to keep her mind distracted.
Photo Courtesy: Erin McNulty
Photo Courtesy: Erin McNulty
At times, Erin felt discouraged as her teammates continued to practice and her competition continued to train. However, when she felt like she would never swim again, she said one thing continuously chimed in her head,
“I’m not done. I know I can get faster.”
Unfortunately, in August 2014 the swimmer was told that her first procedure had failed to fix her Osteochondral defect and if she wanted to remove the constant pain she would have to go through with another surgery.
Photo Courtesy: Erin McNulty
McNulty opted out of more time out of the water and instead paired up with her Coach Joe Spahn to create a unique butterfly stroke that would decrease her pain, but also increase her speed.
In response to people asking how she continues to push through the pain and get faster, she responds, “My coach Joe is so positive, he works around what I can’t do and builds on what I can. Together we focus on the average little things I can do and perfect them to compensate for the things I cannot do.”
Erin believes she owes much of her success so far this season to her patient coach who has helped her develop and perfect a butterfly stroke she is capable of swimming.
“My coach Joe’s positive affirmations have really helped me push through the pain each day; I do not know if I would still be swimming if it was not for his coaching.”
Photo Courtesy: Dan Worden
McNulty and her coach continue to perfect her training and stroke in the hopes that she will accomplish an NCAA B cut in the 200 fly at conference and continue to get closer to 51.70, the NCAA cut which only one girl in the nation has accomplished.
The University of Hawaii swimmer also hopes to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Despite only having one working ankle, McNulty continues to swim faster with the strengths she does have.
Katie Seaton is a freshman breaststroker at Hawaii. She graduated from Yucaipa High School in Calif., and finished as the school record holder in the 100 breast and 200 IM.
Great piece! This story really shows how much mental work is put into swimming.
This article brought me to tears. Very well written. Good for you Erin, such an inspiration to swimmers out there. Best of luck with the rest of your season!
I want to know how she modified her stroke and her training. My daughter is experiencing some leg issues. Pulling, with no kicking or swimming, gets boring and doesn’t seem so useful.
thanks
We are talking to her coach to see about getting a separate story up focused on the changes.
This article provides great insight into what it takes to be accomplished and successful in life, college, and swim. It also shows how important the support of a knowledgeable, creative, and positive coach can be. The goals, and the struggles, the decisions, and the pain that it usually takes to push human performance to the elite level could only be told by someone who knows the sacrifice it takes to be great.